Response of Seedlings of Three Cultivars of Mandarin to Spraying and Addition of Nano-Fertilizer

Abstract

Abstract The effect of spraying with nano-fertilizer at three levels (0, 2, 3) gm/liter and ground application was studied in the lathhouse of Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University / Al-Musayyib Technical College in Babylon province from March to December 2023. Nanofertilizer at 0, 0.5, and 1 g/anvil on three mandarin seedlings. A factorial experiment using the randomised complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates and three seedlings per unit was conducted. The experiment had 27 treatments randomly divided among 243 one-year-old seedlings. A Genstat ANOVA table was used to analyse these results. The least significant difference L.S.D. at 0.05 was used to compare treatments. The key findings are: Seedling height and average leaf area were best in the Clementine cultivar (96.36 cm, 1715.4 cm2 seedling-1). Leaf nitrogen and potassium were 2.61% and 1.48%, respectively. Spraying shoots with 3 g.L-1 nano-fertilizer increased seedling height, average leaf area, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium at the highest rate. The addition of nano-fertilizer significantly affected vegetative growth and leaf mineral content. Adding 1 g.pot-1 increased seedling height, average leaf area, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium the most. The double interaction between the Clementine cultivar and spraying with nano-fertilizer at 3 g.L-1 (A2B3) increased seedling height, average leaf area, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus percentage. The double interaction between the Clementine cultivar and nano-fertilizer with a concentration of 1 g.pot-1 (A2C3) significantly increased nitrogen, seedling growth rate, phosphorus, and potassium. Spraying nano-fertilizer at 3 g.L-1 and 1 g.plot-1 (B3C3) significantly enhanced seedling height, average leaf area, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The triple interaction between study factors increased characteristics, with A2B3C3 excelling in seedling height, average leaf area, and nitrogen.